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SPONS AGENCYPUP DAT!NOTE

EDRS PRIV'DESCRIPTORS

IDENTIFiER,s

ABSTRACT

DOCUMENT RESOME

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Douglas, Louis H.: Shelley, $cott 4

Community Staying Power: A Saall Rural Place and ItsRole iq Rural Development. Research Poblication No.171,

Kansas State dniv., Manhattan. Wicultural-.

Experisent Station.Rural Development Seryice (DOK), Washington, D.C. cFeb 7763p,

MF01/PC03 Plus Po.stage.Agriculture: *Case.Studies: *Change Strategies4*Community Characteristics: Community Size:Demography: Local Governient: *Local History: Qualityof Life: *Rural Development: *Rural EcOnomics: RuralEducation: Rural Population: Social Change: .

-ServicesDeclining Communities: *Kansas (Dunlap City)

Dunlap, Kansas,4ehtified as a stereotypical Ayingsmall toyn in a-1962 study, was restudied 4n 1974-75'in an efgort totest the dying small town hypothesis (suppo ted only by aggregatecensus data an&ca4ual observation rather th n by specific'studies).

O Researchers us;hg.unobtrusive observation of Dunlap and seven nearbyunincorporat6d'villages, documentary research, ahd a formal interviewet one third oLf Dunlap's 102 residents, found the flying small townstereotype to be misleading. It was determined the marketplace hadshifted, part going to larger trade centers and the remainder chahgedto an expanded household economy: yet, comple; coMmunity activitiesand social subgroupings Continued to provide Dunlap withcohesiveness'. In and'around Dulilap both labor-intensive andcapital-intensive types of preluction were evideet,and residents hadpositive expectations for the future. It was suggested that: the fateof such\towns lies in the decisions of state and federal publicpolicy making bodies -on such issues.as discontinuing rural PostOffices, elementary school attendance centerse^and flood control*p;olects', all 1:of which would directly affect Dunlap and that thesesiftll towns can and .should organize to consIder cooperative ptograms,mobile hAlth care, etc.., if-they wish to conserve an alternative,form of American ,social life. (SB)

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griimunity Staying Power:coirnall rural plqce andits ro)e irrrural development

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Research Publication 171 February 1977 Agricultural Experiment StationKansas State University. Manhattan Floyd W. Smith, director SM 1977

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Coe;tents

Achnowledroments 5

Chapter 1, Introduction . Vr 6Area Map # .. r

Methods I I

Chapter 2, Dunlap-Looking Backward ......... .. .-. . A .. .. I 5The Railroad Years 1869-1%2 15._

, Black Migration. 1 7

.Abandoned Bliwk Chnrch : . . 18 s. Another MiKration 19,

Imposed Public Policy and 1.os'of . .. .. 4 .-4, Sustaining IntrastructKe 41.,

Summary in a General Coatest 24.4

Chapter 3/Dunlap-Place and People 1974-75 29. Looking Outward 29\LoOking Inwards

"Coorminity",and Quality of Living... l 33-..

Postmaster, Duilap, Ks. -. , 34 4A House Out inThe Country 37

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. Chapter 4, Options and a Li)ok Forward , 41,Classzoom, Dunlap tlementary School 42

seCllissroom, Dunlap Elementary SchoOl 44\ The Politics of Hope A ,

454 Concluding Note ... .. 51

Appatba4 1 ,, 56

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This study was made possible by a grant from thei Kansas State'University Agricultural Expeiiment Statioti and the ComMittee on Rural'Development udder Title V of the Reriil Development Act of 1972.,

Colleagues Jan 'Flvt.ind Bill Richter read the manuscript avdiered invaluable criticilms and suggestions., Lowell Brandner, experimentstation editor, pFoxided yrofessional editorial, expertise without .wbiéh

- completion of.final copy of the report seems highly improbable. Students research assistants Bob Eye, Jim. Kaup, Ron' Smith:and Jackson Winteiicontrib.-wed in no small way to the form and focus of the study. Ex- '

perlenced and skillful typing of final copy was performed by Bonnie'Thompson. ikttove all is the appreciation due the _many residents of .

Dunlap,' the surrounding community, and Council 'Grove for their. generous and friendly cooperation a,nd 'Their patience with our, many

questions. To 411 these ttle iuthors are indebted for their contribufion io.whatever may 6e found 91, value in the study; for errors of fact or opinionthe authors alone are responsible.

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introdUction

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This is a case study of a small 'rural place in Kansas named DunlapCity. It is clearly aPpropriate that-the,word ."city" be dropped from tfname as is the custo& acartographers and most hietorians in referencei,to the small villages that are so numetous in the State. When the nameDunlap is used here one may think of any (Attie small rural places'in Kan-sas, or in any of tla norttern plains states. Although the method we used

_emphasizes the pErt4cularis4ia, some ieneralizations" should be discern-ible. In making generalizations in this study, we used "small gond

a5d sometimes "village" or "small town." The connoiltion"smell rural place" cloes,yot differentiate between thqse that are in-corporated and,those',At24. are not. This is not to suggest that in-corporation is inconsequential. It provides identity and formal powers andfunctions of importance) Befcire 1951 Kansas law provided for,corporating, as a third class city, a settled plate of not fewer than 100 andnot more than 2000 people by county, commissicmers acting in response toa petition signed bra majority of eligible voters of the area incorporated.'

_In general, case sWdies of towns, small and large, ha4e yielded im-portant and interesting insighti into social and political organization and

' processes. But an overriding reason for yet another case study is tket thelast thorough case study of a village uncle, 300 population was. done 30years ay.,'

Studies of "small" co munities since then have f 6cused on places of '2500 knelt more. Smaller cei are dealt with in aggregates or subsumeunder a widely accepted s erecitype.'

Let us consider th stereotipe of 'the small rural pltice. Its mainelements are: (1) the population is made upsfor the most part-of people in,their retit+ment4years; thus lew families have small children; the youngabandon the community an4 no replacements move in, so the pdpulationconstantly declines, (2) thoie left behind are there because they lack ap-Wilde for "getting ahead," (3) the small vAn lacks the-minimum essen-! tials for cultural enrichtbent, therefore its inhabitants are culturallydeprived. The conclusion is thai small towns, anachronisms in today's in-tegra*g society, are slowly bti)' surely dying and thus arises the "dyingsmall town" hypothesis. I

That there is some truth In thk hypothesis is apparent. A case studywill neither confirm nor deny the stereotype. It may, however, tlise somedoubts as ,to its universality or, on the other hand, refine and expand it.

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There.may nothe time to do More before changing life styles in the UnitedStates &Ref:in unpredictable ways the values from which the'powerfuldrives for political and economic integration.have dome.

lnsteld of 4udies in some depth of small rural villages' and unin-.corporated com4initics, surveys qf aggregate census data and casual ob-servation have been used to support the stereotype. The obvious outwardsigns Of physical deterioration support the "i inent death" thesis. Suchsigns include delapidated homes, empty houks and business buildings,unused vacant lots, and a genernl absence of the type of activities that oneexpects to find in a live community.

The standards by which the existence of a small town may be said to -be teritinated will be briefly considered. This will be followed by a deter-mination ofjthe' factors that account for their surifiVal despite the presenceof the very criteria under which survival has been judged highly im-probable. Survival having been' .accomplishe4 in a highly unfavorablesetting suggests value in explorifg alternatives by which rival farm-oriented hamlets can be incorporated in the policies and program; Ofrural development in a manne will fulfill the need forsmall-scalecommunity developfnent.

We selected Dunlap, sas, as an apliaRpriate small village to studyby neither a 'scientific" process nor a priori knowledge of the plate.Rather, ft was the result of curiositx aroused by Dunlap having beenchosen more than a decade ago (196) as an example of a."dying smalltown, and having been thus portrayed by a major netwak in one of theearly tevision, documentaries on eurrent social groblems.

In documentary, briefly titled' The Land, the National Broad- 'casting Company sought tO portray the cultural changes and dislbcationibrcktight.%to the rural life Of mid-America by the rapid gv/th ofagricultural technology. Inevitably giving' way to theNpressurd of in-Creasing size of farm operations and required increases in capital inputswere small-scale farmers and small villages dependent upon a populatedcountryside for markets.

- The theme of The Land was.the inevitabilty of rural townships andcountiesfosing population to urban and tnetropaitan centers,'and villageslosing thbir purpose for existence and beint sacrificed to the requireinentsof bigness and largt-scale economies.. lmjed in ttlis change, of cOurse,was a eorrelition between size and .,wel -being, defined as growth,

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114C(isRPORATED TOWNS .POPULAtIONS

1)wight 322, 2. White City \ : 458i

i. 3..Latimer4. Parkerville,

-,.5. Council Grove

6. Wilsey

7. Dunlap ,

8.. Elmdale

9. Strimg City.10. Cottonwood Palls11. Emporia

12.Neosho Rapids13-Reading

14.Americus'' 15. Bushong

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C. Delevan 35.D. Burdick 40E. Saffordville .81

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Figure I Map showing small places and townships surrounding Dunlap.In Morris i'ounts townships shown are pre-1972. See toil, p.

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prosperity, security, and cultural enrichmept,Thus Dunlap, Kansas, portrayed the soon-to-be ghost town. In the

words of narrator Chet Hunt ley: ."The people who remain in Dunlap . .

are waiting obt the inflexible ahthmetic of mortality and watching grassgrow in the gutters of City Hall."

A larger county seat town of 450() was used lo portray a towl/oliy ageneration or so away from a Similar fate, while Manhattan, Kaaris,1'home of Kansas State University, was pictured as having the linkages withthe technology that assured growth and development, and hence a secure'place in the emerging order.-Since the land-grant institution is a primaryagent in the growth of agricultural technology and ligri-business, Manhat:tatf,s future is secure.

The thterpretation of rural life.and culture described above set forththe siniple prescription, "grow or disappear." But the.prescription missedpart of the reality of social change and resatance to change. Except kiltrare and transient cases of "boom tovin" experiences such as have resultedfrom diseoveriek of rare natural resources or being selected as a site for amajor government installation, growth to "acceptable" size was not with'in

cepted practicality. Dunlap,jvas described .as 'in the pr cessthe realm of possibility. The other -option, to one of ac-_a

pearing for a long time, a Ooltess lasting long enough to be a phasevof lifein jtself regardless of the final outcome.

When has a town finally died? When the last iahabitant is gone? Orwhen only one or two families remain? Pr when there are only one or twobusinesses left? A precise answer is not known. It is prestrmed here thatthe test should be on of community, and the question of living.or dyingwould be determined b the presence or absence of a sense of collective in-terest. The presence Individual residents is not enough. The sense ofgroup identity, interactions among individuals and households, may giveway to individual interests and/or shared interests outside the area underconsideration. That condition could restilt from assimilation into a largercommunity or by the speCialization of individual interests to such an ex-tent that collective jnterests are destroyed. The appearance of theSe con-ditions are obseryableas suburbs spread over rural areas and as residentsof 'the suburban and exurban areas Pursue specialized intereg§ thatrequire commuting.' Such an atomistic, antiecommunity way of life ischaracteristic of urbanization. Urbanized and suburbanized areas score

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hist' on the numbers standard but low on co2munity identity. .Thus,'while some importance must be given to number?, more is required. It wasimportant to us to test the sense of community to be found amongDunlap's residents. Has life there amounted to no more for Dunlap'speople than "'Waiting out the inflexible arithmetic of mortality?" Are thereinstitutions: churches, schools, businesses that proVide a framework foractivities expressing collective self-interest? Do the attitudes andevaluations of residents indicate a mutual interdependence and interest inDunlap as a community?

MethodThe methods of investigating this problem took ,many forms. No ono

data-collecting instrument could .be 'relied on; a combination eif tacticswas necessary. ,

The principal Riethods used with sotne success were:

I. Unobtrutive observation. While one does, not drive through avillage the size of Dunlap unnoticed, it is possible to "visit" without at-tracting 'great attention. Shelley, the junior .anthor,, was teach-ing in a neaty college as the project was, getting under way. By at-tending church in Dunlap he was able to mix with, listen to, and askquestions of a relatively large nu4iber of Dunlap area peoPle. His desire totake contemporary residence there. provided many oeportunities- tobecome acquainted with people and become quitt conversant with-thecommunity and its problems. r , .

On-site observations yielded accurate estimates of the quality ofhousing, number of vacant homes, city lots availalle _for use and presentuse of vacant *ts, street maintenance, and ue and appearance of' parks,schools, and churches. Those observations were made, not secretly, butquietly and informally. Also observed were seven Unincorporated villageswithin a 30-mile radius Of Dunlap. The field , trip to accomplish thisprovided knowledge of the environmental setting of rural villages of thearea and at least an impressionistic sense of these tiny settlements. Notbeing incorporated, these places are thought to lie in more precarious ,

gates than those with chorate charters.The places visited rangAp population from six to eighty-four. In six

of the seven places populatiOns exceeded estimated provided by the cluntyclerks of counties in which the villages are locatedthe seven bnin-,

.corporaed.places i estimated by the county officials.contained a total ofIS() residents, while oiir estimate, based on a count of Occupied houses andby inquiries, ',tag 30Q ,Rurst poverty was observable along withevidence of 'typical small-town titiv-ities. &more tlinrough study wogld beneeded to coMpare these unint/orporated plates with tiny incorpozatedvillages. 'De general tendency of the unincorporated places to have lower .populations suggests that incorporation is associated with soctiewhalgr6ter population holdting power.'

2. Documentary research. DocumentS Used were files Of newspapersin the Kansai State Historkal Library and the Council Grove publiclibrary, maps and reCords in the office of the Morris County Clerk, andmaterials from the Department of Water Resources in 'the State OfficeBuilding'. Federal aad state census repo* were used extensively.

3. Formal interviews. A simple but cattfully drawn questionnairewis prepared, tested, and administered to about a third of the Populationof Dunlap. The questionnáire dealt with information on social interactionin the community, nature of outside linkages, confidence in Dunlap andits future, and satisfaction with ecmditions and styles of life in Dunlap. A.copy of the questionnaire is in the appendix.

Me difficulties of such resarch are substantial. Often needed recordswere misOng or incomplell. There was no continuous .newspaper.Dunlap had a succession of short-lived weeklies none of which becamewell established. Information provided frinn memories often'was fragmen-tary, sometime contradictory, and varying in its utility. Given the con-straints of time and responses It was imRossible to get all, or even a sub-

stantial part, -of the historical data.that would have been useful in un-derstanding Dunlap. Notwithstanding obstacles, this aspect of the pmjectbecame more interesting as it proceeded.

, The writers recognize their sympathetic bias 'toward the culture ofsmall rural.places. Douglas experienced the hopes raised by first Newpeal agricultural programs (1933-1930 for redressing the economicbalance for.(Armers, particurarly tenants and Marginal small farmers. Heshared their frustration as program emphasis was shifted to favor power-ful interests in agriculture at the exOnse of.the powerless. Shelley wai.Motivatid 'to study, fer his master's -thesis, bias.in contemporary Winprpgrams, using as a njodel tesearCh done by.Charles L. Schultze underthe auspiees of the grookings Institutkm.°4.

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'Contribution No. 11. Department of Political Science. Kansas State University.In accordance with the requirement% of theCommittee on the Use of Human Subjects.

the confidentiality of persons who were interviewed is protected. Names of these persons arenot used in the test, and questionnaires were read only by the research staff.

!Unincorporated settlements have less population holding power than thoie in-, corporated, yet iheir nupber and population are significant. In Kansas there were. in 1975.

..)00 unincorporate(1 places with populations of seyeri or more, with a total population (est.) of.22.650.

1951.1he Kansas legislature passed an odd law: "any town . . of not less than forty,(people) and not more than 2(X)0 and located in a county of more than fifty-two thousand and

. ess than t.0.000 may be incorporated. . . 1 his bit of special legislation-permittedWillowbrook (population 43). a small subprban. place 5 miles from Hutchinson, to incorporate..In 1963, the legislature set the minimum size for incorporating at 300 and enacted muchmore stringerit incorporation procedures, abolishing the speNalitfislation of 1951.

'By Carl Withers, writing under a nom de plume as hires West..The booit. Huntsville.U.S.A. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1947). is a thorough and most laudabledescriptimi arid analysis of a village with a population of 247. As recently as 30 years ago, aplace as small as 247 coUld support as'many as a dozen retail stores. Today a village of thatsize dors well if it holdt two or three.

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All this is, of course, directly connected with the fate of the smalltowns, whoSe surVival has been cast in doubt' by the conSolidation of farms.Not Much at all is really -known aboutf the small rural villages of thewest and North Central 'United States. biscourse about their culture, aspointed out earlier, has rested contentedly upon stereotypes. Yet in 1970,some 48,-205 Kansas people liVed in villages, incorporated znd unin-corporated; of under 250.inhabitants.' The writers' interest in this sub-jedt, in:both empirical and eprmative dimenitis, has been bot4 in-creased and guided by E.E. Scliumaker's recent boo , Small is Beautiful:Economit-s.as if l'egplt Alt:tiered." His work convinced both writers thatniafnstrearn research was missing Some profound and badly needed social.concepts.

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Arthur J. Vidich and Joseph Bensman, Smakiltwn in a Mass Society,(Princeton:PrincetokUniversity Press. 1458); Josepl? P. Lyfort Tft.11;alk I,, Vandalia (New York: Har-per and Row, 1964); Edward C. Banheld, The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (Ukncoe.

Ftee.Press, 19M), and Robert Presthus, Min as the Top: A Study in Community Power(New York: Oxford University Press. 1964). Populations of the small towns in the studiesnamed abost were, respectively: 2500, 3400; 5160; and (2 places) 6000 and 9000.'The.fact is that Dunlap changed very little since 1962. Population lost tiy 1970 was

nearly teCovered by 1974.

"the ithence of any desPe for or realization of commitnity in modern urban llféItheUnited States is brottght out with amusing hyperbok ina satirical 'essay by Milton Mayer,entirled ."Community, Anyoner Me Center Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 5 (September-Octeber.1975). pp. 2-6. Labelling the prrtechnological community as "iovolUntaiY," Mayerproceeds to deniolish any pifsition embracing concern for PreservatiOn or restoration of corn-mbnities. "We are, political apimals incidentally, and as little as possible."

'Figure I. p. 16 shows the incorporated and unincorporated plact's in the area luminaDunlap.

'Charles L. Schultze: thstribusion of Earns Siebsidies: Get; she Benefits?Washinvton, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1971).

s'°Populations 'of incorporated placs are convenkntly collated in Cornelia EWA,Referrna Tables: Population C'hon tf Counties and Incorporated Places in Kansas (Kan-sas Agricultural Experiment Station, anhattart, Kansas. June, 1971). Populationsof unin-xcorporated were estimated by means of a post card survey of county clerks.

.1'New York: Harper and Row, Inc., 1973.4jhis book is one economist's case kir thegrowth of a culture of smaller units, greater diversity, and broader humanistic values in thepolitical economy of t.he United State.

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.2. Dun ap ooking Backward

A history of Dunlip City, Kansas, remains to be written. The intenthere.wis not to put together a complete history (a fascinating, though dif-ficul), task). 'It was miniMally essential to piece togeThei and interrelatethe elements of the past that had been most influential in shaping theDunlae of today. Those elements found were: (I) the coming and theclosing of the railroad, (2) the interracial- werience, (3) in-migration af-ter 1920 and ,resulting class cleavage, and (4Y the loss of helpful in-frastructure and regionalization of government.

The Rallroad Years 1869-1962The fipt railroad to enter Morris County was .the Union Pacific

Southern trench, liter a part of the Kansas, Missouri; and *Txas railway,nicknamed the "Kat9." The first segment of ihis system in Kansas ranfrorniFort Riley nyir Junction City, to Parsons, Kansas, and on to IndianTerritory (now Oklahoma). The voting residents of Morris County votedby 170 to 25 in favor of issuing $165,000 in bonds to purchas railwaystock to aid in 'gonstruction.1 Council GroVe was.reached October, 1869,and Emporia the following December. Dunlap was founded and settled onthe Katy Ilhe, between Council Greve and Emporia, conforming with therequirement that a town be established at intervals otnot more than tenmiles on railway lines.

The settlement grew rapidly following the establishment of theDunlap Trm Company, incorporated in 1875 by J.W. Pritchard, J.*.Watkm,loseph Dunlap, and J.G. ,Dunlap: It was recncorporated twoyears later by Joseph Dunlap, R.M. Clark, L. Still, Day Parsons, ErwinRuler, L.A. JOhnson, W.H. Irwin, and John Dowd. Incorporati4 by thecounty commissioners as a third class city was twelve years later, January10, 1887. A reliable census of its population at the time of incorporation isunavailable. It was report4d by the U.S. Census Bureau to be 408 in 1890and to have declined every decade following 1890 to 1960. It is reasonable'to assujne that 1890 approximately marked the high point in population.Estimates in local newspapers of up to 750 undoubtedly included the'population of some of the area surrounding the town linlits and perhapsalso some optimism.

Dunlap was thus a product of the land speculation, railroad buildingera of 1865-1890forces not best suited to rational and orderly selection

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df town sites. The railroad offered land for a town site at another location,but did not resist the preference of the Dunlap 'town Company, under theleadarship of loseph Dunlap, for one selected on land Dunlap hadacquired. 'Fhe town site was a quarter of a section, a VI mile square,divided by the railroad irkmks, Adipartly consisting of creek bottom landsubject t'o more or less flooding almost yearly, Obviously, Hie site would

- not have:been chosen on the basis of acceptable'criteria of'stable towndevefopment. The location served the immediate interests of the dominanteconomic forces of the 0mespectators in railroads and land.'

Although the% location of Dunlap .wai based on standards ofs mewhat doubtful merit. the city was favored in several respects. The

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surrounding area was potentially productive in diverse ways. There werecropland and grating land: both of excellent quality, and normally

, sufficient rainfall for 'development of tviilh agricultural output. A ,stonequarry was opened in the early I/180s with prospects of empldfing up tofifty workmen. Dunlap was its shipping potnt. The Dunkip Chief com-m'ented that "Dunlap is surrounded with fine mighesium limestone andmessrs. Pickering and SumTherS have opened quarry and are engaged inshipping this stone to various parts of this sta'te and Missouri, this stotlebeing unsurttassed for cutwork."`

Dunlap lost populatidn, as indicated by Tablf 1, every detWile after1890 extetit for 1950. At the same time, at least up 'to 1920, the town's'commercial infrastructure contitmed to Nw.4

The key to the econoric aevelopment of .Duttlap, from its foundinKthrotigh the first quarter of the 20th century, was the railtoad industryand its services. The railroad WM the mit used and useful connectionWith the outside wolld of business and commerce. Even as motor trans-portation began to become competiti've, Dunlap's relative isolation fromhighways encottraged a continuell reliance upon the Katy line. Thus.it was 'tmore thati,a nottnal,loss when, in 1952, the last passenger run fromlunc-"n City io Dunlap to Emporia and points south was made,. On this oc-casion parents tank children for a last memorial ridefrom Dunlap to thenextIstalim stop, with prearranged return by car. Ten years later freighttraffic .likewise was. discontinued. Shorkly thereafter the rails weresalvaged, reducing tax liability, and the first Katy line in Kansas was nomorr

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Shoetly aftey the founding of the Dunlap Town Company and belreDunlap became a chartered third class city (ia- 1887), an exceptionally in-teresting and unusual event ocCurred that greatly inflpenced the social

structure and incrçased the population of Dunlap and the surrounding II-township. Thi) was the arrival,in 1878 of a party of about 300 black inmigrants from the States that had undergone the triuma of secession,defeat, and rec(instruction.' This group was one of several organized byBenjamin Singleton and brougOrf into Kansas as a part of the "Blaok

--- Exodus." Other groups of freedmet1 followed and by 1890 the populationof Valley township was abdut even6 divided between blacks and whites.In 1887 the Freedmens Association of Dunlap established a prospectivecenter 14( black cultural development, the Freeilmen's Acad,eniy

..designed4o educate the young in the main departments of commerciliterary, and --practical arts. Unfortunately, the academy was

tively shortlived and its inipression on the community,cannot b ac-curately evakulted now. According to older residents, hose pare wereon the scene in tbi' 1890's, the academy was iinportan nd,app dated.When a grimp of elder citizens was asked when the 101 Aca emy was

. closed, one said "Why do you call it ti 'Black' AcadipAy y mother wentthere:* The answer seemed to represent a relaxedcjaYattflde that mayhave prevailed at ihe turn of the century T Atademy 'in its timerepresented relatively high edt&atibnal and iOcial standaras and -ap-parently was, in the ttbsenceof a Public, high school, attetxled by some.ofithe white ehildre

But granting this evidence of at least a few years of benign relation-shi s in on'e institutional setting,. evidence mounti with respect to morenegative 'types of int'graction both beforei and after the years, of theAcademy, First, the journey. to Dunlap was made in unattended railroadcars.iscco.rding to two of Dunlap's osenior citizens, "just like cattle," andthe families were unceremZmiously dumped out to fend for themselves.The area provided for them was hilly and rocky, the last-choice for a site tosubdivide, as provided, into 10-acre lots, .for intensive subsistence farm-ing. Some lived fof mOnths without housing, sometimes taking shelter inone of the blush hollows on their land.

BY 1920, residential segregation was tightly enforced, and thehumiliation of a segregated cemetery was maintained. A separateelemen-

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shwen Abandoned by Blacks, Dvnlip,.

1

s')

f

A

4

4

If(

A

_

OS

tary school was provided-after the. Academy closed, A room in the( Academy building.having been previouSly used. Segregated elementary

educatibb prevailed. When.Dunlap established a pUblic high school in1912, the question' again arose. The constitutional rule at, the time ac-cepted sepegation--if the separate facilities were equal. If separate

.2 facilities were lacking, the assumption i,ould be that the 4cility was in,tegrated. Some blacks attended, far fewer than proportionate to their.,partof ths.-population. The senior class pictures from 1920 until the highschool closed in 062 decorate the wall of the entrance hall of the gym-nasium-auditorium now used for activities of--ihe elementary school.'Among these pictures are at least four black studentsfour of around 300graduates.

By I950 the black experience of Dunlap had ended. The exodus fromReconstruction into the Free Soil state of Kansas was concluded with anexodus from rural" Kansas to urban .destinations often out of state.Mthough the population of Dunlap as a whole had been declining slowlybut steadily, the geeater loss was among the black raopulation, reducing asit did their nutOers almost to zero. The depression of the thirties fell withexceptional severity upon the blacks, and the farm mechanization of theforties brought seVere uneniployment to farmjabor and farm tenants, thelivelihood of many blacks.

On balance, the exferience of black colonization in Dun* was shortatd unhappy. Softie of both races no dotOt benefited frOm the experienceand in the early years there were times tiat seemed to hold promise, Butput *o the severe tests of depression and ongoing uneniployment, thesegregated and unequal society gave way.' All members of the communitywere hurt by the depression,' emotionally, and, spiritually as well aseednomtcallytheblacks were wiped put,. One of the research assistantsotfthis- pttject, studYing the four tAck faces among the pictures ofDunlap 'High's graduating classes, remarked: "Dunlap must be an

--unbsual place. There aren't many rural toWns in Kansas where those kidswould have made it through high sthool."

4

Another MioratiogThei founders and early settlers of Dunlap and Valley township were a

padre post Civil War wave of westward migratipq into Kansas,from

19 19

,

1

a

the northeast, especially fm Ohio, Pennsylvaniajand New York, iinck- .

many families were established in business or farming before. '1900. As1#members of a community, they were fairly homogeneous, ad ering to acommon body of.moral and social valuesthose values can in eneral bedescribed as "the Protestant ethic" of. rural Middle America asdistinguished from urban. Successive generations of such early familiesassumed responsibility for the-public well-being of Dunlap. As the coin-munity declined, the duties of gUardianship became even more importantand these established families, slowly declining in' ntimbek held firmly totheir responsibilities. At the same time, it becamo more dOcutt to attractinto p sitions -of letdership each younger generation. Often theireducat on dictated that they should seek careers away from Dunlap. They

r were edugatedlor opportunities and careers no longer existing, if they everdid, in the home town. _ ,

1

Thus without-in- igration Dunlap would be'extremAy small. Therehas, in fact, bee oontinuing in-Migration or families intoDunlapfamilies wi cultural and behavioral patterns distinctively dif-,ferent from thiise of the "old" families. -Most distinct was a group of familiesfrom Western Virginia and eastern Tennessee, uprooted by the relentlessmining and lumbering technologies applred to much of the region knownas hppalichia.'

The life-styles of these two groups have not divided the totalpopulation of the town into hr clear-cut and separated groups but ratherhave tolaced them toward opposite ends of a continuum bridged by thes4faral families that have moved into Dunlap who ire not members pfeither group, though in mast cases they tend to "look" in one direction orthe other.'

Conversations with nearly hallrbf the adult (over 18) residents ofDunlap provided certain meaningful insights regarding the followingdivergent views of thktvorgroups. (1) Both are clearly conscious of their/3fferences in oriiiins ind life-style, (2) the members of old fifmilies retainn image of .the Dunlap of fiftY mos or more ago, either from their ownxperience or implanted by their parentsin either case they judge

Dunp by memories of its past and with nostalgia; .(3) they,. ako judgev ,newcomers by their ability.to empathize with this viewmost tail, (4) thenewcomers in most cases feel that they are not fully accepted, usually acorrect perception, and (5) in some cakes, in-migrants have assumed to

20 2 0

4.

large degree the values of the old fimilies and have found h;rel work,frugality, tradition, and conservatism congenial. .; In addition to these sets of people, dere is a small recent in-migrantgroup thai does not relate to the above schenit in any consistent way:Theyare members of the work forces of the larger neighboring townsuattractedto Dunlap by its fairly low cost of living, pariccularly housing.° They maybe the least permanent residents as they have neither the ties of memory ofDunlap's greater past as do the FirsiVamiliei nor the familial bonds,thatthe Appalachian faryities have to hold them.

This section will 6e closed with a look "into a portion of the in-formation yielded by the formal interviews. Of forty-two interviews taken,thirteen werg of individuals belonging to the Appalachian group. Ages ofthose thirteen were Clistributed as follows: 18-29 one; 30-39 six; 40-49 one;50-59 one; 60-69 three; 70-79 one. The median age was thirty-seven. Ofthe nine AiSpalachian families in the interview sample, two moved toDunlap in'the 970s; three in the 1960s;lour in the 1950s. The earliest in-coming family from Appalaclifia arrived in 1932. This in-migration waslitodds with the depopulation process cotnmonly exptrienced by the smalltown. it did not prevent a steady net loss of population hut did provide aninfusion of comparati-vely young families.

lt became clear that the analysis of,the Dunlap community requiredrecognition of these three distinctsgroups:(1) those whow families had settled in Dunlap lifore 1900; (2) thosefamilies inigrating to Dunlap frVin Appalachia after 1930, and (3) otherfamilies moving into Dunlap after 1940. By doing this, the analysisprovided an explanation of the social and politi& chlmge, status andpower rtlations, and some measure of the social VIdues and attitudes thatwe were seeking.

A very important demographic deviat om the norm jot.. small .-

rascal places was'also`noted. This is.shown in able 11 below. Apparently,the families in group two and:to a lesser extent, those in grourthreeprovided tfie population for the yiSintiger age groups.

Imposed Public Policy/Loss of Sustaininc) IhfrastructureDunlap, Kansas, was a product of a federal policy that enqouraged

speculation in land and railroad yonstiuction for three decades iftgr theCM! War. The processts that implernented-transfer of a land tract from

ra

:

21

21

V.

r-

ti

a

the U.S. government hi Indians; from Indian tribe to a railroad company;`from the Kansas, Missouri, and Texas railroad to individuals formed intoa deyelopment company, were not processes that-included spokesmen foran interest in choosing the best available plans for a permanent and et-panding community. Tbe raiiroad management required a fuel and waterstop and was either unconcerned.about or igporant of the nearly "annualIlooding to which a large portion of the selected site.wits protie. The smallarea included in the charter of incorporation, one-half mile squall!,sugsiest that an expansive future for 'Dunlap was not included in the other-wise-optimistic outlook.

Although the deeisions that brought Dynlap into existence were not.focUsed on its best interests (a less flood-prone and a much larger sitecould have been thosenh the farces that were generated karried the cityforward until about 1920 despite its falling population.. Main streetdeveloped the usual retail servicgs and facilities. Orie early resident-recalled a department store, grocery store., a Farmers Union-Co-op, drugstore, an opera house, and funeral parlor among otherkcilities." By 1920there were two Negro churches, several white clihrMs, two banks, a.railroad wittiresular passenger service and heavy freight traffic; and a 4-year high school. *

A stone quarry near town provided a dauand for labor and shipping, service. Yet the main reliance was upon grain and livestock marketed in.

Dunlap to providg income to support the services, governmental and com-. mercial, that were provided.

Growth of business in Dunlap -continued into the 1920s despite boththe.town.and_the surrounding township losing popUlation.. Yet midway inthat decade the Farmers State Bank, whose assets had tripled between '1894 and '1919, was faced to close. It was a decade of nationwideaAricultural depression for which no femedial national policy was suc-cessfully deVeloped.

. .

The effect of thetpreat Depreston bf the 1930s was much different.This 'waaa total depretsion, striking the financial core of the nation andthe great. industrial maebine was almost stopped, while farmers wereproducing-what, in the absence of consumer purchasing power, was' termed.a surplus: The census reflects the return of...some rural out-migrants

. of the previous decade in a substantial increase in the population of Valleir.Township, Dunlap's trading area. This pattern was offset by the dryughts

22

of the middle and Iiite 1930s in much of the Plaibs area', somewhat fartherwst." -

'the prolonged depression (1921-1939) for agriculture, accelerated thetransformation of Dunlap -from the traditional, viable, form of com-mUnity, an active trading center linked with mutual benefits to the largerworld of commercial and industrial activity, to the type of community nolonger recognized as a community at all, but "just a wide place in theroad," a "ghttst town," one of our "dying small towns." The stayingpowersof places, like Dunlap, their ability to continue to exist, attractedour interestand resulted in this study.

"The reiurn of a somewhat better domestic national economy after1940 had little effect on the continued desertion of Dunlap's shopping area,the termination of railroad service, closing of the stone quarry, loss of thehigh school, and declining population, Publicized as a dying country

/ village in 1%2, Dunlap in 1973 had changed very little in a decade, buthad changed a great deal from the old Dunlap of 1900 to 1920. Thus thefirst Dunlap has in fact been transforme and the present communityfotild not be measured by -the saA standards. Some of the characteristicswere discoverable and revealed the coatrast w(th its predecessor. (I) The,*sent Dunlap made no pretense of being a competitive trade center. Itsmarket economy was almost nonexistent and had been gradually replacedby a household economy. A small nne of conkenience grocery,items pricedalmostat cost was carried by the postmaster; a servicrstation dispensedfuel, a small line of automotive supplies, and' minor service for startingand repairing cats; a feed store fnd grain elevator fulfilled their usual flute!tions. A church served the town and community anti was the main soealorganization'of the community. The grade school, an attendantse cerd ofUnified District 417, was a highly regarded institution, the last depositoryof civic pride, enrolling in 1974-1975 fifty-five Students.

.

(2) The remains of several old commercial 'buildings stood as areminder of the "old" Dunlap. They were a dismal contrast to the well-

. kept exteriors of the elementary school and community church.(3) Sidewalks were pardally covered with gravel and the streets showedevidence of relatively light use and little maintenance. Those were themain features of the outward appearanCe of Dunlap. .

Although the story of Dunlap is unique in details among the ruralvillages in...Kansas with populations of fewer than 200, the outcome is one

e

23

.23IN

th.at is shared widey, almost universally. While details of the natural. history of these places vary, the underlying forces determining their

destiny are much the same, not only in Kansas but regiona4 and to.someextent nationally. Data presented up to this point have traced the par-ticularistic details of Dunlap. Statements of broader applicability are now ap-propriate. .

Summary in a General Contetf

The primary force in shaping United States agriculture since WorldWar 11 has been the gwkth and application .of a high-energy agriculturaltechnology requiring largeinvestments in land, equipment, and scientificknow-how. This obvious faet of life in rural eerica is generally highly ac-

ae claimed by the press.

A major problem resulting from the growth of high-energy tachnologyin agriculture has been the expansion in size and production of individualfarm opeFations, matidating a reduction in numbers of farmersfewerfarmers producing more. Rather than sounding like a "pmbllm," it soundslike a solution. Which .it is depends on tbe point of view of the obseryer.liwas an immediate problem for the.remaining small farmers who lackedcapital or for village,businessmen who discovered that their customerswere declin in number.each year.

Loss orrownship and school district populations due to consolidationof farms presented equally difficult problems for local government of-ficials. Local units became less functional as the types of services de-manded changed with advancing technology. To meet the needs of thechanging rural economic order institutional changes were called for inlocal government structures and functions. These came slowly but movedOonsistently in (he direction dictated by the climninant mode of production.The "progressive" assumption was the transition should be and would bea total changethat a complete transformatton would take place. Thisstudy raises the question as lo he accuracy of this assumption andproposes the eossibility of a du tic agricultural system both as anexistent fact and a? heuristic polic

.1t is not strange that the pres ure for.change after the consolidationof farms should be interpvted as a need to consolidate local governments:-Most of the literature on local .governmsnt from 1910 to 1950 wars criticalof the multitude of poorly coordinated local units. As rural population

's

1

\

declined, the need for consolidation became more and more obvious:"Marked progress was achieved in' school consolidation, townships

found themselvel stripped of pany functions, reducing on the one hand01 the number of units and, on the other, the number and cost of services. At

the same time the county governments, particularlytural ones, were notmergep or consolidated as .units. Instead, multi-county programs, such asengineering service, mental health clinics, so,eial welfare services, antilibrary seiwke, became a trend that left cflunties intact. .

The success of..multi-county programs demonstrates the felisibilityand desirability of expa ded administrative areas (in cases where the stateplays a major fiscal a policy-setting role). It is inaccurate, however, tothink that such serv iriclude all the local governmental servicesneeded: Services that are properly matters of statewide concern andsusceptible to uniform statewide administration are easily idehtified. InKansas, and in most states, many rural counties could profitably be con-.solidated by fours, sixes, or eights for the functions that have led some todescribe camty courthouses as having become field offices for the stateadministration. But the other face of county glernment matters oflocal jurisdictionis the concern of this paper. And the typical Kangascounty is too large formatters of local jurisdktion.

Not all of the population of the United States lives in traditional corn-(munities. The traditional community is expendable. One aspect of modern-ization or economic development is the overrunning of communities andneighimthoods. As this happens social groups, professional organizationsor siniilar kinds of entities often act as substitutes for communities.

The small rural village is one setting in which the community mythstill prevails. A popularview is that .these places must give way to progressso.the peoplehve elsewhere. Mayer depicted pre-technology villages as in-voluntary communitie.s. Our research makes opposite findings and wenow turn to a more detailed deScription of those findings.

25

) 2 5

,

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se1.11

Ohjelema 1890' 1900'

4

Table 1.ln orpofated Citios.in Morris County Kansti, Shbwing PopulatUins, 1890-1970, anii

Ptliulations of Townships in Whichl.okatec1'

_ ..Clark's CreLk T.S.' oLfttnier (City) .i.:oukii:il-trove-I.S.'- 487 445 ,

--,--1-

Council Grove (City) 221.1 2265 ,

Elm Cretk T.S. ,1060 1049-7

Wilsey (City).--_____ ..._ ......Ohio TownshipDwisht yity ._

Parker TownshipParkerville(City)Rollins Prairie T.S.iryhite City

VAlky Township

4467 475

734 879

" ii 460 863/ - '202 146'

-. 999 : 1152..

-5-19 -519)Dunlap (Citv

,_._ ..

Alf... 000

,1910'

.r*1

4243545

,

-\?

19201

'365---;

4)2857

,

:" 3884 . 124

'409298

1940'

,32484 .

v-i14

2815

989. 348.

1950*.

-'_ g2p7

34

,C55

.L., 2722

" 705251

- 1960'

i82 1.61

. 40 29

299, 316244 2,403

1251

834298 ,

1986)37

805

'1107C-7313--

548 473224 169

9tX).334

738295

632281

548' 529281 . 322

871-157

\820

1

693'... 127

568105

. 3587.8

. 31.1. 2/6,59 25

1081

SOO

11,29

652, 1041

,.,. 619830516

864540

707 640459 458

413,333

..2.700*300

6(j6.273

524214

352: 134

.1-..----..-

313 .. 252134-; ' ''': 102

'For 1890, 1900, 1910! U.S. Departmnt 'Of Commerce; Bureau of the Cenatis, Thirteenth Census of the United f?ates, 1910.Abstract of the Census with '!iipple,rnetsi for Kansas. pp. 581-582..

. - . .

'For 1920: LES. [Apartment of Commer4, Bureau of Mt Censue, Fourteenth Census (tf the United Statei. 1920, Population.V6}."1, p. 433, ( . .. ,-'For 1930, 1940: U.S. bepartm'ent of c orninece, Bureau of the Census, S'ixteenth .Census..of (he United States, .1940.Population. Vol, I, ppi.401402.

a ..% 's

'For 1950: 11.S. DepartmeiVt of Commerce', Bureau ot the Census, Census of the Population, '1950, Vol. 1, sec. 16,1), 19:'For 1960, 1970: 11. partMent of Commerce, Bureau Oi the Census. 1970 Census of the Population. Vol. 1, pt. 18, p. 27.*

, .

./. . . ,*Census Report for 1920 nd 1930 included Dunlap's population ),,ith that of. Valley Township. ±1( '.

--. (

le

Table 2Age Distribution of PoPulation of Dunlap

(1974)

Below 10- 20-10 19 29

21 27 10

30- '40-.19. 49

9

$0-59

13

60-69

10

70-79

4

Oorolder

°

b

Total

109

Source: Population schedule.,§tate agricultural Census.County Assessoil Office. Council Grove, Kans1W.

-'A typical actioi. Local units of government were generous in voting subsidies to attract

railway construction through their territories. Data from the Kansas HistoVI Records Sur-vey. 1941 (Division of-Seriice Programs Topeka. Kansas), p. 74.

'For the short run, the railroad had great utility.- The Dunlap Chief proudly reported.

that -the M.K.T. railroad has one of the best depot buildings at this place of anywhere onthis line.- (The Dunlap Chief March 3, 1882. Kansas Historical Library Microfilm.)ar-'Dunlap Chief: .3. 1882 ii.. . 2.,(Kansas State Historical Library Microfilm.)

"As title exam e followieg balance sheets of the Farmers State Bank of Dunlap.reflect this grow sets: 1892. S12.916.62; 1894, S27,416.48; 1914, 597.872.57; 1919,S184.132.87. r reetdot (Topeka, Ks.: Kansas State Historical Library. Microfilm.1892); Dunlaareekly News (Topeka. Ks.: Kansas State Historical Library. Microfilm..

.1914), and DuTilill Rustler (Topeka. Ks.: Kansas Stre Historial Library. Microfilm. 1919).'The following writ the major sources of data for this sectiOn: Dunlap Reporter. July 20. V

1883-May 10. 1888; Dunlap Courier. November 23, 1889-1891; Dunlap Leader. December1903-1901 (Topeka. Ks.: Kansas State Historic Library. Newspaper files, Microfilroks For .

an excellent general hiktory. see Wm. F. Zoc6w, Kansas: A History of the Jityhawk State(Norovn: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957)

. e A resident of Dunlap -and another living on a farm near Dunlap indeprndently-corroborated this. In the latter case, the respondent was reporting experiences of hisparentsand graliparents. II

'TM:losingf of the Freedmans Academy in the 1890's was symbolicof declining sup-port of community projects in behalf of the black population. From that time on. the qualityof life for the t;lack people.of the communitytdeelined steadily. as did the number-of blackresidentt. <

_ -'The exodus of V* -hill-people- from Appelichia into the cities of Illinois. Ohio. and

the other.Noith Central states has been elsewhere obsenied. Atiparently, in more fortunatecases, some of those families found their way sometiMes into small towns in the north an.dwest, -where the physical, and firobably, the social, environments wervonore successfully.con-fronted. fr.,

..,..A. .. . ...4.............,7,-

0-1.....,, . ..

27

2 .

N -

4

4

r.

'1)ates familiqs atrived Irom various sources caninn he determined: l'he period ofWorld War 1, 1915 1920, seems to be a turning point in ethnic and cultural trends in1Yunlap's population (a) declining proportion of blacks, (b) start of immigration of familiesf rom Appalachta. (c) some in movement from other places in Kansas and the midwest"Rental properties illre 11(4 numerous in Dunlap, More conunonly. houses chat can bemade habitable can be obtained very cheaply..

"Interviesx %kith a tong tulle resident of Ibinlap."As blisinesses and officex closed across the nation, the option to return to the farmwhere the IS AMC necessities V. ere more available %as chosen (temporarily) by many."the (Miming general literature is typical, by no means inclusive. No reference is madeto the mans excellent studies of mdividual states. H.S. (Albertson. The County The -Dork

Continent Ut .istericint Politics (Ness York. the Kmckerbovker Press. 1917); HermanJames, 1 ocul (17ivernment.ln the United ,yraws. (N.Y.: 1), Appleton & Co., 1921); Arthur'homage. Amer:tan Cunni,ti. (;ovvrnthent (New *ork: Sears Publishing Company, 1933):John A. Fantle and Charles M. Kneier, ConniyGovernment and Admini.stration (N.Y Ap-pleton ('entury Publishing Co7. 1933); Lane W. Lancaster, Government In Rural America,-Iind (N.Y Van firranuid Co.. 162); tlytle F. Soar, Anarricun Same and Iva (AntrftMCM iN.I .1 Meredith Publishing Co..-19b5). Chaps. 13 and 14; and John H. Ferguson andlkai l. Metienry, 1"he American Symem of Government (N.Y.: Me(iraw 1971),Chap. 27.

"Milton Mayer, ()Nen.'

CI?28

a

2 8 .

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I,

'cs!

3. DunlapPlace and People 1974-75

Before developing our analysis of the pre,sent cdmmunity of Dunlap itis' necessirY tiLreturn to the subject with 41q. the preceding section wasclosed.. At' that point the material was left with a general outline of in-,stitutional change in rural Midwestern ana North Central United Stattm,These genery statements must now be fit to-the Dunlap situatioh.

To most observers, the action taken by the Morris- County Com-missioners in January 1972 to abolish townships seemed to be either a longoverdue reform or at worst a harmless bit of busywork,. Practitioners ofrural government and academic writers on the subject long ago agreett onthe obsolescence of townships. In their view, such obsolescence has been a

logical consequence of sinallness of area and declining populatiTi. Newand everchanging technologies of modernization required larger farmsand roads to accommodate more weight and more speedbut at the sametime serve ever fewer people.

By 1940, the conventional township as a unit of government had fewdefenders. By 1970 hi Kansas it had been stripped of almost all functionsexcept providing for elections and, in some instances, maintaining sub-sidiary roads. .

'thus, to the MorriS County commissioners, "dissolving" townshipsand repla4ng them with larger °units January, 1972 seemed to bereasonable and exemplary. ,However, the transition from township tocounty government was less than complete. 'townships were not erasedcompletely nor were they "rationaliz.ed" by consolidation into large andunifdrm districts provided, for example, by dividing the county intoquadrants by,straight lines bisecting each other lit right angles in the cen-ter of the county. The action taken in this case was to reduce the originalsixteen townships to nine 'areas, numbered "toWnShips," one throughnine, with two townships retaining their original identities withboundaries slightly changed.'

The new subdivisions, designated by number,left some uncertaintyas to what they would be or should become. Irregularity of size and shapeonly added to the mystery of their creation.

Lookkv Outward. Valley township, in the southeast.. corner of Morris county, wasbefore 1972, a six nfile square. Dunlap was near the eastern coOnty lineand slightly north of the middle of Valley township north and south. The

situNeosho river flows southeasterly past the . thwest corner of Dunlap andon across the Oklahoma border. Rock .ek, whose significance will beexpanded later, flows from the northeast to the Neosho river west ofDunlap. Dunlap is a convenieut center for .nearby residents of the v-alleys

6.of the two streams. ,Despite being a nation with pride in its government "by the people"

and full of mypories of Jeffersonian wisdom regarding values of agrarianlife and rural governments organized by wapds (townships), counties, andstates, the United States hAs fitikd to fulfill its responsibilities to ruralgovernment in at least two respects. First, little provision was made forrevgnition of the importance of community life by drawing politicalboundaries to facilitate growth. and development of natural communitybonds. Neer England towns are something of an fxception; the plainsstates, on the other extreme, frequently formed the political lOwnshipsco terminous with six-mile square survey townships regardless of how

t affected the communities. involved. A second difficulty 'respectingrural local government has been powei plays on the issue of consolidatingsmall local units. Consolidating or integrating governments is, or couldbe, a natural process as technological developments reduce time andspace. The process need not destroy small communities if they continue intheir responsibilities for those things they do best. One argument forenlarging township areas in Morris county was reducing election costs,estimated at $1,500 county wide. tiut that would hardly pay for the addedti.me and travel-required of voters to get to the polls, not considering thecost to democracy through tile reduced turnout resulting from the addeddifficulty to voters. ,

One would suppose that the political life of a rural county would beenhan_ssd by conscious efforts on the part of ,the county seat, and par-ticularly the county office holders, to give much time and consideration tothe concerns of each local unit. If that was the case, the results were notsuccessful, judged by expressions recorded in our interviews. Forty of the59 adult residents of Dunlap Were asked: "What level of concern do' youpersonally feel OM the county governmept shows for Dunlap as a com-munity?" Of the forty adult respondents, 13 (33%) answered "completelyunconcerned.," another 19 (48%) "moderately unconcerned." Nonesuggested a high concern, .ana only 3 (8%) believed that the county was.moderately 'concerned about the community of Dunlap. One. put it that

"our roads are only patched" when complaints are made in volume or af-ter an accident,tas been caused.by the disrepair.

At the same time that a substptial majority (81%) of Dunlap's adultcitizens were describing the county government as unconcerned about thewell-being of their coinmunity, 48% thought that the township govern-ment was either "not adequate" or "useless," but 55% thought that if itsfinancial resources copld be increased substantially, it would have the

. ability to increase the quality of hs services to residents. .

These data show that the .governfnents closest to respondents tendedto elicit the greatest confidence regardless of the merits of the case. In thecase of Dunlap, 29 respondents gave affirmitive or strongly affirmativeanswers and five gave negative or strongly negative answers to the questionof the village itself being able to increase the quality of service to residentsif greater financial services were available.

In addition to the usual Overnment functions 'and servites, Dunlaphas a spetial public project in its environment. Under the Kansas Water-shed Act, passed in 1953, steps were taken in 1966-67 to establish theRock Creek Watershed District. The major purpose was to provide floodcoptror its minor purpose. recreation. Irrigation was .not included as apurpose. The citizens of Dunlarwere apparently poorly informed of the dimen-sions and possibilities of the District.

In discussions with residents the Most frequently mentioned un-favorable aspect of living in Dunlap was the frequency of flooding. Oddly,the Rock Creek Watershed project was rarely mentioned. The' project ap-.

parently had difficulty getting under way ind was badly behind schedule.However, the potential for Dunlap appeared to be sukiently great that afuller discussion and description of the Watershed proPct and its relationto Dunlap was reserved for the final section of this paper.

Observations 'testing adult residents' appraisal of the public boardsand agendes of the larger society in whose policies they rightfully beli3Ovd--they had a stakesupported the conaision of widely shared lack.of con-fidence. For possibly different reasons in eaci case, each of the groups(First Families, Mountain families, and Others) manifested a negative at-titude toward the larger society, a negative evaluation of wholesale marketsuppliers (they would not willingly deal with stires of the small salespotential of such small rural places as Dunlap), cclunty government (roddmaintenance was unevenly distributed), unified school operation (the

I.31

31

a

board will close the school in Dunlap as somi as ,they can find a reason).state government, and national government.

Locking InwqrdExploring the views of Dunlap residents with regard to their own -and

their community's situation revealed . that they reflected neitherhopelessness tior the desire to emigrate that outsiders would expect---rnorwere they unaare of difficulties in their lives. The most pessimistic were.the descendants of the early settlersAke First Family group. Having.watched the busMes.s and commercial iffigstructure of Dunlap slowly erodeand their hopes of restoration disappear, they foresaw no way of makingsatisfactory recovery. Discussing the possibility (remote) that an influx ofnewcomers might take place, an elderly representative thou ht that evenso they would be the "wrong kin of people." This attitu e of despair,however. wa$ not extreme. .could better be designated as con-servativism, reluctance to a prove changes..or to risk change from anestablished. thongb declining, way of life. Only eight out of 21 respon-dents in the First Family group were willing to say that Dunlap's way oflife in general wav inadequate for most residents. They seemed to prefer toaccept the present with its promiSe of a continuing-sradual decline rather_than attempt changes with tincertain outcomes.

On the other hand, the Mountain Families reflected a moreaggresve attitude and willingness to change. They. were moie optimistic,less resigned. Their expectations for .the future shOwed a clear differencebetween the First Families and the Mountain Families. Four questionsWere used to elieit responses reflecting &grecs of optim'sm or pessimismof outlook for the future.' (9ee Tables 3-6) Questions ti and 12 askedrespondents to picture their own and punlap's future (5- 5 years hence).by choosing, one of fiVe responses: A. Great Lmprovement B. SoMe Im-provement C. No Change D.. Gradal Decline E. Disaster. In projectingtheirown states of well being ahead 5-15 years, the Modal response of theFirst Family respondents was "Some Improverpent;" that of the Moun-

. tain Families, "Great Improvement." Likewise, the Firs1 Families weremore conServative in ttimating lh future for the village of Dunlap, with"Gradual Decline" getting oil st /respimses compared with "NoChange" in the Mountain Family c gory. (Table 5) Four of 13 MountainPamily respondents anticipated gr'eat improvement or some improvement

\

:while only five of 21 First Family responses indicated sonp improvementand none opted for great improvement. ,

The differences were narrow but in the same direction with regard toQuestion 14"will it be easier or more difficult for people living inDunlap to make a good living in Dunlap Over the next 10-15 years?" Themodal response for botl)groups was in the middleit will be `lhe same,"but 70% of the Mountain people gave that response compared to 51% ofthe First Family group.

`1V . .Thus far our analysis has been directed only to the two distinctly

outlined groups residing in DAnlap and the surrounding neighborhood.We next turned attention to tot third group, the Other Fathilies. As ex-pecteil, fewer commo It bonds were. found among/ members of the thirdgroup, less identity of b ckground, and more varied outlooks and an-ticipations. Their respon es showed a wider range and vaitety; however,they tended fairly consistently toward .a kind of aggressive optimism,perhaps because they were living, in Dunlap more lrom individual choicethan were members of either of the other groups.' `-

: Tables 3 throtgh 6 compire responses of the three groups. Extremeand -moderate answers have b, n combined to focus on the central ten-dency.

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"Community" and Qtrity of LivingBy our test of communsty Dunlap was neither dying or dead. The

characteristics of (1) community institutions, 2) power structure, and (3)social interaction were affirmative. The expansion of houselioldeconomies and the decline of or even disappearance of business in-frastructure was ,a significant change but not one justifying final rites.The process wasp gradual decline with 4justment made as time passed.

A noteworthy characteristic of Dulnlap's household economies was,family gardens. They were alinost universal and gave evidence (Aran abilitythat will obviously be in great demand with continiling inflation. Onehouseholdee reported that \the only foods for which his family relied en-tirely on p retail food store were milk and beef. Available lots in Dunlapoffered a potential that could be developed. Adding flood control, andpossibly irrigation by means of the Rock Creek.*Watershed Districtdevelopment, would add to that potential for a purely rural development.

The institutional life orDunlap was simple, plainly visible, and cen-

333

Postmaster, Dunlap, KS \

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tered around thechurch, the school and, in a secondary way, the post of-fice. The United Methodist Church was a strong support for communitymaintenance, particularlj true for the First Family group and those whofound a mutuality of interests with them. Well established, on a stablefinancial footing, and drawing support from the rural area aroundDunlap, thi; church was alforce for community maintenance.

The elementary school, an attendance center for a unified schooldistrict, related less to the First Families group than to the other twogroups wy.tetided to have morVamilies 'with children of elementaryschool age.lbe elementary, school replaced the grade and high school thatheld the MISIlties of the communitibefOre school unification, so it was still

- looked uptiti by all with proptietary pride. Achievements of the Dunlapchildren goitig on to high school were related with enthusiasm in con-versations with the investigators and credit given to the "fine school" andbright children.

In quite a different way, the post office wilt a meeting place for towns-men to pass the time of day together:as they waited for the mail to arrive.Perhaps more important than the "nail ordinarily arriving was the chancefor mutual exchange of community newst constituting a daily assembly ofhouseholds. Numerous 4amilies, not having a rented mailbox, receivedtheir mail over an indefinite fime by "general delivery."

A power structure was discernible in Dunlap.- The governmental af-fairsfwere cared for by the town council, all of whoinivere members of theFirst Families group. Although a minority, those ,few families held Allpositions on the councilltnuide all necessary decisipns, a large number ofwhich involved difficulties in'. coordinating with higher governments.'Since there was no local piper, the meetings, agenda, attd proceedings, faith-fully recorded in the minutes book, wese not regularly disseminated forpublic knowledge. Even elections could come and go almost unnoticed. Itwas obviously a concern of the First Families group that they not lose this'power. This group held no illusions about the insecurity of their grip on'these controls. As a result, some activity was noted in recruitment of newfamilies when they arrived in town. If.the newcaters seemed to share theway of fife of the First Families, a place on the town council could easily befound. The 'rewards for holding power in Dunlap were few enough towariant the conclusion that such service was a good exampleof unselfishdedication to public service. The,resifft, however, wis.to place power, not

35

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,only in a minority, but also in the possession of persons with a conservativeoutlook toward the Ilage and not easily persuaded to change withchanging conditions.

A web of social relations functioned in Dunlap 'and the immediatesurrounding community. In addition to social activities of church andschool, respondents indicated that much visiting took place in.hornes andon the streets. All but two rated these contacts as "pleasing" or "verypleasing." Twenty-three of 41 respondents believed they were well enougleacquaintedtwith half or more of the people in Dunlap to write a characterreference for tJaern.

Membership in named clubs was the province almost exclusively i4the First Families. 'The women, in particular, were at , least moderak"joiners" with a majority of the women of the First Families groupbelonging\ to one or more church-related groups, such as the UnitedMethodist Women or the Women's Society fOr Christian Service. Cardclubs and book clubs were a close second, the Pirst-Families women againby far the most numerous in memberhsip. Males interviewed held mem-berships in fraternal and semi-professional organizations in those stem-ming from or related to military service: American Legion, Veterans ofForeign Was, and the Association of the Army of the U.S.A. In all, in-terviews of 42 Dirlap residents turned up 41 memberships in social and-semi-Orofessional organizations.

.

In considering the well-being of households in Dunlap let us deal firstwith economic aspects and then with broader cultural characteristics. Theinvestigators ruled outOrect questions on income as unacceptable in thissiudy because we deemed it more valuable to gain trust, to be consideredcourteous visitors and to be able to return ft) the same respondents.Perhaps the information we recei ed was less exact, though, at the sametime, more meaningful. A specifk figure, no matter how accurate, is lessmeaningful than a free convers tion about how orie.gets along on a verysmall railway employee pension check, plus a little gardening and oc-casional odd jobs. lt is hard.to consider accepting welfare, even when noalternative exists if illness comes. Situation& like .this described the statusof several families in Dunlap. But the percentage receiving publicatsistance was approxiniately thitt 1'4:hind in cities.

._Incomes, apart frptn the previously mentioned 'householdeconomizing, largely followed general economic trends. Most incomes

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36

derived from pensions, social security, and wages apd salaries that in mostcases- required commuting. The effects of inflttion were mixed. Thehousehold economies countered to some extent the difficulties of makingfixed incomc> adjustments, providing some prbtectiod for the familybudget. Most` households seemed to be secure in their income sources.Benefits would be derived from growth of job opportunities in the inr\mediate environment of Dunlap.

fudging by our study, small rural places are marked by a tendencytoward equality of incotne. Although our study purposely avoided specificmeasurement, the spread between lowest and highest incomes was in therange of 1:8, that is, the largest no more than 8 times the lowest, asperhaps of $1,500 for the lowest and $12,000 for the highest. Such asituation is an interestinjecontrast with differences of as much as 1:50found in cities where salary, Wealth, and status accumulate in certainareas. On the evidence gained from analysis of Dunlap, the rural villageoffers a community of relative equality.

A House Out,in the CountryIn Hard Living on Clay Street. a study of life among the urban poor

in.Washington, D.C., one member of the hardliving group says, "What Iwant to do, if I ever get my way, is to buy some land somewhere. If we startputting the money away now, we can get us a little land somewhere andMen I'm going to build my own house . . . all I have to do is save thatmoney and build us our own house out in the country." Undoubtedly,daily confrontation with the problems of living hard on Clay Street madeBarry's mind stretch out to construct an imaginary escape from a nervestraining and culturally birren existence. Whether Barry was expressingan ittainaWe and rational objective can be doubted but that this ruralmyth-value is widely shared cannot.' There is some evidence that the1970s and 80s may record a discernible effort to give sote statisticalreality to the expressed myth.'

What happens to small rural places of !Camas and the plains is. amatter that will be deterMined by public policy'. Despite arguments forresettlement or new "homestead" acts, these do not appear likely toprevail. To make no publpolicy in this area is in itself a policy. Becauseboth The atio and_the states now engage in social and economic policymatters, a eglect of the small village population will be a policy of

:17

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vacuuM. This sector has unique problems.dealt with the damage done could be very g

Within this framework we considerpeople, and the terms for their survival.

a

If they are not recognized andreat.the prospects for Dunlap, its.

b"ble.3Distribution by groups of responses to Question IO, part IVIs the

way of life of most people in Dunlap adequate or not adequate formoderntimes? .

4

M4.

Adequate

First FatNe......-#' 21 2Mountain Families 13 3Other Families 8 4

All RightNot reallyAdequate NA

11

3solt 1

87

2

-o

9

38 (18

k

bble 4The distribution by groups of responsek to question 11, part IV As

you think of the future, which of the following best fitt YourOwn future?

Improvement No Change. Decline NA,...,.,... .

.Filit Families 21 13' 4 2 2Mountain Families 13 9 3. 1 0Other Families 8 7 0 1 0

bble 5 .

The distribution by groups of responses to question 12, part 1V-7-Asyou think of the future, that is, the next 5-15 years, which of the followingbest fits the future of Dunlap?

Improvement No Change -Decline ;NA

First -Families 21 2 10 f 9 0Mountain Families 13 4 5 4 0OtrFamilies, 8 4 : 3 1 0

.

'Lie 6The distribution by group,s of responses to question 14, part 1VDo

you expect it to become easier dr more diffkult for most people In'Dunlapto make a good living during the next five to 15 years?

About the MoreN Easier Same Difficult NA

First FamiliesMountain FamiliesOther Families

21

13

8

2

1

4...

10 .

85

94

0

000

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9 ,

s

)

4

'1White City, Kansas, Reguter. JanuaryO. 1972; p. I.'See Appendix I, questions 10, I I , 12, 14. Question 13 was included as a way of

correlating lot ownership with stability and animistic OU r examination revealedthat pwst residents lived on their own property or that a relative. Lots are free of moitgage

and seldom bought or sold. .fax delinquencies are apparently a problem, how serious we didnot determine.

'One younv housekeeper wrote on her questionnairej "Our small population keeps our'epwn friendly we really see 'love your neighbor' in,affion here . . ." Thk respondent was"moderately opposed" to a program designed to increase the town's population by 100 to 200people.

.*

'As an example, the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act mandated a service for in-corporated places that would cost Dunlap More than their entire locally funded budget at thetime. The cojncilmen voted to take no action but to attempt to negotiate for a more practicalmethod (*disposal. .

.. . ,'Elections were matters of great concern for this reason, plus the fact this tfe law, her9

again, required procedures iliat weft extravagantly expensive forl small place. [he council(mind it justifiabk to loo or economies and short cuts in the procedure.liga.4

;Joseph T. Nowell, H Living on Clay Strev (New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday,1973), pp. 35.36. .

,

'Recent surveys find 'a strong (expressed) preference for a rural or villa;je over a city orsuburban place of residence. The following findings of Watts and Ptee ate typkal. Of citydwellers, 11% prefer living in the city while 14% prefer village and 27% prefer kural. Ofvillage and rural dwellers 60 and 90% respectively prefer their present place ofdlingonly 5% and 2% respectively espreu a preference for the city. One of every foursuburbanites would like to live in 4he country and one of twenty would move into the city.William Watts and Lloyd A. Free, State,of the Nation (New York: tiniverse-Books, 1973),PP. 79-83f .. .

,. .

'Evidence now indicates that the ruralatirban flow of population has been reversed in theU.S. Calvin L. Beale, U:S.D.A. authbrity on population Otas written and spoken on thisphenomenon. See James SiAndquist, bispersing Pogulation: What America Can Learn fromEurope (Washington, D.C7: Brocilt4ngs Institution, 1975), pp. 249-51.

tl

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4.Options anda Look Forward

Observations of Dunlap and more limited impressions of other smallrural places in Kansas proyided evidence of the folly of simplevgeneralizations and the misleading nature of the generally acceptedstereotype of the small rural place. The outwatt appearance of theseplaces, especially their abandoned and tumble-down business "areas,,presented an unpleasant reminder of the ravages of, time. But that wasfound misleading. The market place had shifted, part *going t o rgertrade centers and the remainder changed to an expanded h oldecooemy. Rather complex community actiyities have continued and theyhave strengthened the. Rommunity through local interactions. A closestudy of Dunlap revealed institutional loyalties, cohesive subgroupings,organiz club and social activities, and expectations about the futurvthat assu d a degree of stability-and permanence.

That did not, as it may have seemed, lead us to conclude that all waswell with smaH rural places. They are frail communities, with their sur-vival held by most observers to be in doubt. The loss of function as amarket place was a serious handicap; and quite impossible of recovery un-der present frends and conditions. But the loss of this function, judgingfrom the statistics, seldorn resulted in death eXcept in a most uncertain

6 and long-drawn-out manner.To find that the process of human adaptation to life in a small rural

village possessed any quality not deteriorating in nature would be counterto the generally accepted stereotype that the "best", i.e.*, the brightest,most ambitious, and ablest are drawn away to seek, in Horatio Alger style,their fortunes in the city. Our observations and data did not confirm thestereotype. We found that the eniironment of the small rural place en-couraged, and sometimes required, knowledge and skills of a high orderin mechanics, construction, soils and drainage, horticulture, and others.More reliance being placed on versatility rather than specialization wasnoticeable. Both labor-intensiye and capital-intensive types of praluctionwere observed, the latter as a source of employmeut outside the limits of4.Dunlap but tn the vicinity.' The proposition that there-is in the rural hinterlands o UnitedStates.our own,"Third World" might well be pondered. 'Con ering thekinds of skills achieved anclL the community values developed, thepopulations of rural villages wdlild seem to be a valuable source for PeaceCorps recruiting. This is a subject for consideration elsewhere in some

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4.#

SAM

,yr

Classroom, Dunlap Elementary School

4 2

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,te

w,tt. ,-tt

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detail. As we consider options and prospects it will be preferred to con-sider the rural village as a part of the current social order, not as a quaintmuseum piece from the 19th century. Such rural places may have anportant role in the total structure of society as we move into the post-industrial period.

The fate of rural villages is, in a very real sense, in the hands of pu'blicpolicy-making bodies of state and nation. It has become' increasingly,dif-ficult since -World War 11, due to the rapid growth of industrial,'technology, to make policies that protect or support small villages. Writ-ten off as hopeless cases, the most that could be expected was an attitudeof r benign neglect." Under these conditions, as our observations ofDunlap show, the villages haw slowly deteriorated. It is not just that theyare losing population (that has been going on for 60 years or more in ruralvillages), but that their functions are lost. Populations and functions aresomewhat, but not totally mutually dependent. Economic growth can par-tially replace population loss, if social and economic values, activities, andneeds increase. That was obviously the case with Dunlap between 1900and 1925 as it increased in capital investments while population steadilydeclined.

A scenario presenting the results of negative polie s that might bepursued will show how much small places depend upo xternal policydecisions.

One example is the Postal Service plan to close fourth class post of-, fices on the-grounds that alternate _service would save an estimated $100

million annually. Since the benefits of a social and community nature can-not be wejghed yonetarily, they are not included as offsetting losses. Thealternate servid proposed would destroy all, or nearly all, df the social ac-commodatiOns of country post o'ffices.' The difficulty of computlpg socialcosts and benefits suggests that they will be ignored.

Another policy decision that would inflict damage on sm-erteruralpl,aces would be the closing of the present elementary school attendancecenters. In the case of Dunlap, this would be very damaging since theschool is an attraction for families with children of school age. In ad-dition, the school is the most important social center in the communityand provides a sense of purpose ale achievement, Undoubtedly, cen-tripetal forces are pressing onAinified school district 417 to transfer theDunlap students to the central part of the system, the county seat.

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4 3

4

t,

I.

7

A), 4

MP* 'TV

14 n1.4

aI*- e r.et t

.7. 1C:'77...../2,

4rUH4'.:111i

) 1

Classroom, Dunlap Elementary School, Dunlap, Ks.

44

vantages and disadvantages of a pedagogical nature related to4reater cen-tralization'and larger attendance units are matters of controversy amongteachers. Here we can do no more than point, out the damage to Dunlapthat closinkg the attendance center would cause.

judgments described above fit tua9y small places), failure to co lete the

Finally, in the case of Dunlap specifically (the two nega ive policy

Rock Creek watershed .projects thai bear Ain flood control would make itdifficult for any substantial development to take place.' (\Inversely, withfull completion and development, particularly flood mntrol andirrigation, undoubtedly would noticeably strengthen Dunlap. Therefore,we will turn,to consideration of the ray of hope that is found in the alter-native of a completed Rock Creek Watershed project.,

The Politics Carve,Aed

as a nonprofit corporation October 16, 1969, and the general planrticles of Incorporation for the 4ock Creek Watershed District Were,

was approved February 27, 1975, by the, Chief Enginer, Divisioa ofWater Iesources, State Board of Agriculture. The Distri&plan proposekconstrui. ion of nine ilood-retarding structures and 25 other small deten- tfion dams. Watershed district financing was provided by a property taxlevied by the district under authority of a state law that .limits the tax totwoinills.

. Between 1953, when the Kansas Watershed District Act was passed,and 1974, 15 ifistricts in the state had completed all the principal struc7tures included in their plans. An additional 33 bad completed a part oftheir planned structural system of works. The record of this program is

.,generally go6d, although some districts, as is true with Rock Creek, have

. been slow in getting started.The Rock Creek. Watershed District encothpasses approximately

93,000 acres and extends 11/2 miles south and twenty miles north ofDunlap.' Drainage to the south, from twenty miles north, places Dunlap,the only incorporated city.in the District, at "the end of the funnel." Sihcethis location bas rendered Runlap perennially flood prone, the townwould benefit greatly .by the completion of the planned and feasibleprojects of the district..

A four-coulty regional planning 6nit, Resource, Conservation, andDevelopment (R7C,&D), has planned a dual purpose darn lo be built on a

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farmer's land northeast of Dunlap. Thum piojecy was taken under thesponsorship of the Rock Creek Watershed District. Now nearing com-pletion at the time of this writing., this subproject offers possibility forproviding aoource of water for development of a multipurpose communityproject. Another smaller detention dam is planned closer to Dunlap withequally good pmssibilities for community development. Water usessuggested by supporters of the project include (I) irrigating commercialgardens and orchards, (2) supplying a controlled flow of water for ftsh farm-ing and fish hatchery..ponds, and (3) a swimming pool. Also suggested%was a plan fora comniunity garden for up to thirty families with about twoacres of land subdivided into 30 by 100-foot plots.

Having recorded the strengths and weaknesses of Dunlap's positionwith respect to resources and manpower, the writers were ippelled to go onwith thedevelopment of logical peps in a feasible program of community

'development. 'this was especially true in view of the encouraging nature ofthe findings. These findings were drawn upon as a community develop-ment sequence was put tOgether.4

The primary physical resource available in Dunlap is land, a resourcewhich, since limited in area, must be planned for intensive uses, which isfeasible when acwmpanied by the assumption that an available 'and con-trolled water supply will result from the Rock Creek Watershed sub-projects described above. The human resource is, of coUrse, the in-dispensable requirement, and our research provides some understandingand confidence in that resource. Our questionnaire contained questionsthat sought to determine the degree of interest in supporting anddeveloping a community Plan,' Respondents were asked if their-feelingstoward a program designed to revitalize Dunlap as a community werepositive or negative. Responses were: very positive 40%; moderatelypositive 37%; neutral 19%; somewhat negative 2%; very negative 2%.

Respondents were then asked: "Would you be interested in attendingan open meeting to dikUss the possibility of setting _up a program for thepurpose of revitaliting Dunlap as a community?" This question was an-swered: very positive 46%; moderatelY positive 37%; neutral 12%;scimewhat negative 0%; very negative 4%. The survey findings thus in-dicated a high degree of interest in community improvethent. Informalcontacts with rpidents in the community fortified confidence in thehuman resourcesof the community.

4 6

4

I. As a first step in organi ng for development, a steering cvmmittee*duld be convened to plan fo a community=wide organizational meeting.The steering committee cou be made up of individuals who had ex-pressed the most positive interest in/moving the community in some newdirections. Four representatives of each of three groups defined in part Illof this paper would be a satisfactory cimmittee, although the First Familygroup would be over-represented. However, the present position of this,group, the background of its members and therr access to power amohgoutside poli

.y makers makes their over-representation defetAible. Ad:

clitionally, ounrain Fanty group and the other families tended toward(he same icy orientationl so they would, in general, tend to combine tohold superiority on some issues.

Preparing for a series of community meetings, the steering committeewould organiie into working groups As need indicated. The followinggroups likely would emerge as essential: 'N

1. Publicity. This group would meet the need for developing com-munications with the citizens of Dunlap and the surrounding area.

2. Water Use. This working group would 104 into alternative plansfor using water made available by the localiub-project of the RockCreek Watershed District.

3. Land Use. This sub-committee would inventory the present statusof land-use and explore possibilities for alternatives. .

4. Programi Avail is sub-committee would explore theavailability of ject assistance through contacts withCongressmen, state legislators, the . Kenos Social andRehabilitation Service, and other public sources.

The above working groups would report briefly at the first generalmeeting, answer questions, and receive inputs and suggestions forprojects.

At the outset of the community devekflaent effort, meetings wouldbe necessary on a monthly or more frequenf Vasis..As the programs wereinitiated and settled into patterns, most of Jhe fathilies would be involvedin.one or more of them and formal mass netings would normally be lessfrequent and would tend, like the New England town meeting, to be calledfor general policy approval and guidance.

A suggestion of the projects likely to be approved by the people of

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Dunlap is highly hypothetical ana almost pkesumptuous; however, itshould be possible to use our observations a obvious needs and theinterests persons expressed in conversations and formal interviews as abase for suggesting potential projects likely to have a payoff. We believethe, tentative list below would be dis6issed and that someoif not all, wouldbe chosen.

I. Cooperative gardening and drganic farming program. The needfor this type of program is fairly obvious. Such a program wouldreduce still further dependency upon outside food sources andlikely provide a better quality and quantity of food. It would en-

, courage related activities, such as a Fariiiiers Market,cooperative canning and preserving, rePair arid services, andother local activitiei now placed in Emporia aniCouncil Grove.

There is now a large reserioir of talent, interest, andexperience,in gardening and small farming which could beorganized and fprther developed.

Some economically rewarding and socially acceptable em-.

ployment opportunities would be provided.The substantial acreage of fertile soil within Dunlap would

bb put to productive use.The duty; of determining the form this community program would

take would fill to the Working Group on Land Use or its successor. Oneoption to be considered would be formation of a cooperative nonprofitotganization responsible for arranging purchase of lots and tracts andleasing appropriate units-on a long-time basis to individual families.

2. A coopecative community general store. For this uclertakingtht need is apparent. Such a project could be organized andoperated along the lines of farmers cooperatives of the earlydecades of the century, but adding the advantages of modern-marketing services on an appropriate scale' on the, style of the"mini-mart" or convenience center. Cooperative organizationand philosophy would, of course, be the central element.

3. Child Foster Care Program. There is a need for Dunlap resi-dents to provide this sdrvice for the area around Dunlap and forthe neighboring communities as well as' for Dunlap itself. A fostercare program Approved by the Social and Rehabilitation

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19 Service would fill a need, bring activity and program funds toiDunlap, and strengthen the infrastructure of the village. The

stable rural envirotyneht. where#children could grow up close tonature and learn nlany useful vocational skills while taking ad-vantage of healthy, nature-related recreational opportunities,,would be a meaningful alternative to the typical urban fostercare placement situation.

4. Home Care Program for the Aged. Home care services couldmeet the needs of older men and women as an alternative to carein nursing homes. In addition, the need of many healthyretbed people to work at something they feel to be of value, andthe need of many people in Dunlap to play a helping role, couldbe provided by the Home Care Program. Home care serviyeswould include visits from Nomemakers and aides of all ages,delivery of hot meals, home maintettnce, friendly visiting, andtelephone assurance.

,.5. Foster Grandparents Program. The needs of older men and,,_

Women to be employed, to feel wanted, needed, and of value '% coul, , met by the Foster Grandparent Program..Further, the

nee . i. f many children to be placed in a fOster home wfiere theY ., i

will feel wanted, needed, and important could be met by thisprogram.

Children could be placed in the homes of older people.where they will feel welcome and comfortable. The foster grand-parents would receive a money payment in exchange for the careof the children and therefore would be fiaid,ernployees.

-6. Multi-p pose ComMunity Center Program. The youth of

)117Dunl expressed the need for a recteation center more than forany other life deficiency in Dunlap. Both young and old agreedthat social, educationl and recreational activities for teen-agers are needed in DuRrip.

7. Mobile Health Csve Prgram. A discouraging aspect of ruraland village life is the itiadequate health care.' Dunlap needs anemergency mobile unit that could be calleti upon to transpbrtsick or injured to Council Grove safely and quickly. Such aprogram would tequire outside funding. A converse

49 49.

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arrangtment *ould be to :Khedulk weekly visits by a doctorand/or nurse to examine and treat the i I.

.Some elderly residents have r and do not drive. Thus'improwem ts in the medical aid system are the highest priorityfor theni.

8. ,ow-cost Housing. The need both to improve present residences ..and prwide more housing seems apparent. There are at present\no vacant livable houses -and -many that are occupied 'needrepair. The abatement of seasonal flooding should reducedepreciation of t)(omes in low-lying arias and stimulate interest, in iniprovemen . Positive steps in this area would require ad-vice of expert h

tusing authtirity people. Investigating low-cost

housing programs would be a first step.9. Community Beautification. Many long-vacated buildiniA are

both eyesores and safety hazards. Some of the old buildingscould be rehabilitated to prbvide housing for the Co-op storeand possibly the Community Center. Others should be removedand the ground made availably for intensive -cultivation. TheBeautification Program couldAehabilitate buiktings and walks,plantings, and surfaciRgs.

10. Adult and Continuing Education. The Adult and ContinuingEducation Programs of Emporia State College and Kansas StateUniversity Should be approached to bring programi to4Dunlap.While the general educational level is not low, there are manyi dividuals who would benefit by qualifying for the high school

rtificates or from refrester courses in their fields of special in-te est.

11. Vocational Rehabilitation Program. Dunlap has some unem-Oloyment as well as underemployment. Productivity on jobsavailable around Dunlap could be increased by upgradingskills. The basic structure for upgrading exists under 'the direc-tion of the Kansas Social Rehabilitation Service. -.

12. Community Flood Control Action Committee. Although oursection "Politics of Hope" is put together on the assumption 'that the Rock Creek Watershed District will have completed thenecessary sub-projects to control the flow of water that has

50

resulted in overflows in Dunlap, continuing surveillance of thiswater-use program is essential.. Involvement in decisions regard-ing maintenance, operation, and other ongoing aspects of theproject and sub-projects bearing on Dunlap and its environs willhe essential.

The Flood Control Action Committee would, as one of itsmajor functions, regresent the welfare of Dunlap ind itssurrounding area. actin diplomatically buf firmly as an interestgroup to maximize posit ve benefits of a controlled supply ofwater.

It would be presumptuous to assume that. sack and all of theseprograms would be accepted or that, if they welt; that'll!l would.be fullysuCcessful, or that there are no other programs or formats that would notbe more successfutlVe do not make that assumption. However, we listedpossible development projects that relate. to the welfare and improvementof life of people living in the Arral village of Dunlap. All our suggestedprograms are faithful to a concept, of rural development. None envisionsindustry or urbanity as goals for rural development. Also none hints ofreturning to the "good old days;" of isolating a comwunity and pursuing afalse goal of self-sufficiency. As Appendix II below indicates, fulluse is to be made of county, state, and national programs that offer toenhance the quality of life in small communities, with the accompanyingassumption that the village will remain small in population and rural inlife style.

Conctuding NoteThis report on an investigation of the "life" of a small rural village

can be concluded by reviewing its principal findings and probing fortheories that mayexplain them. As for the latter, this study can only servein a Preliminary way. While nutch was learned about Dunlap, much moreremains unknown. Furthermore, the limits of this study are very narrow.Dunlap is but one of the 148 incorporated places in Kansas with 1970populations of feweV thati200, not to mention many more unincorporatedplaces. Many more small rural places were surveyed "at a distance,r! somebriefly visited. All tegded to support the Dunlap observations.

The "dying small town" stereotype is misleading. A better concept;

;

51

t

4.

with some theoretical content, is that the transition mandated hyeconomic conditions after 1900 was never clearly understood, that man-date being to develop in and around the small towns the internal resourcesthat were rural and agricultural in nature and to develop functionalcooperation rather than to place all reliance in a competitive market en-terprise system. Given the existing situation, the centripetal pull of largerplaces, even no larger than Emporia or Council Grove, could, and in factdid, make it impossible to maintain a commercial and profesgional in-frastructure so that such institutions in Dunlap were subjected to steadyattrition.

,The people left behind indicated in their behrier pattern the

strength of the American political culture. They clung to thc image oftheir town as it had been two generations in the pasta place of extremeindividualiso, with true equality of opportunity, rewarding hard workand thrift, and protecting the right to acquire and possess. Inevitably, thefading of that image instilled a mood of resignation in the outlook of theFirst Families...klo doubt the church was the one place where for a shorttime at least the realities of the situation could be put aside and the pastrelived.

The dynamics of- epotwomic development have seemed to inditate thatsmall rural villages like Dunlap should be wiped out. In a centralizing andconsoliflating society they appear to have become functionless. In anecononlic sense; that hastindeed happened. g

IThe literature of r ral development reflects that-belief. But 1 onelooks at the proposalra d goals of rural deVelopment proponents, it is ob-vious that the processes Ithey recommend Will not nurture and develop the"rural" but rather will/either (1) plati for economic grawth by.larger farmunits and Eurther population decline or (2) plan for growth of local in-dustry. Neither platygrasps the concept of ruralization.

Ruralizilion would involve public policy makers in acting upon per-ceptions of the iMportance of conserving for .a segment of Americansociety an alternative fortwof social life. This stgmerit could be describedas labor-intensive, resource-conserring, diverse, sonwhat self-suffieient,cooperative, and geitfeinschaft. Xach of these terms tends to depict acounter-culture, but not as a conflict situation. It might be the vanguardof a growing social order or the rearguard of a declining way of life.

The growing awareness in recent years of the need for flopullition

4

4

5 2

It

a

decentralitation supports a program that would extend the outward limitsof a decentralization effort to, small rural villages maintaining a level ofpablic services comparablr to the centralized areas. The desiredfacilitation of population dispersal yrovides (4ne of the major argumentsfor the kind of programs we suggeYed.

Again it appears that the strength of th values of American politicalculture have barred the policy door again t what we have here termedruralization. While this is strange in view of the persisten%* and ac-commodation of rural values in American life, it can be explained in termsof G"beer eower which nOw, in defiance of the Lockean individualist creed,resides in corporate interest groups.' Policies tend to conform to the shortrun interests of the powerful, which explains well how the Dunlaps are leftout.

A recent analysis by the Government Accounting Office oh"problems impeding improvement of small-farm operations" is revealingin this connection. This' study showed that by channeling research and ex-tension resources into small farming operations, these could be made asproductive as large.' The Department of Agriculture was adamantly op-posed to any such efforts, and in its reply argtied that such efforts, evengranting their possibility of s ccess, would be too costly to be justifiable.Any proposal that veers a m existing policies.is viewed as a threat.

The implications of such' philosophy seem to be understood by theBoard of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the National Academy ofScience as its report contains the following language: "non-agriculturalinterestsi, (such as environment and rural development) as well asagricultural interests should be included in the annual assessment." Ap-,parentlY rural development, and the agricultural are separate interests.This is a true perspective if "agricultural interests" is taken to mean largescale, capital-intensive agriculture only. Rural developmentruralization, which includes the small villages, requires a diaerentapproach. The one outlined in Section III above,, we think, takes lillo ac-count the needs and capabilities of the small village.

Any departure from the established pattern of agricultural programsupports gets little support from the Department of Agriculture.'" Thesituation is comparable to the Russian govtrnment's socializing as muchfarmland as possible, but permitting some Small acreages, individuallyheld by farmers, to be farined.privately by owners. In the Soviet Union

elb

'

53

`c7

that is about 3 percent of tilled land, in plots often less than an acre; thesmall plots provide not only family gardens but a substantial 'amount tosell in the [Re markets that are permitted."

Programs for strengthening small rural communities would not en-tail, comparatively speaking, large budgetary outlays. A range of activities.drawipg upon exitting agencies was proposed in the preceding section. Amore equitable formula for federal revenue-shaiing would give places lirenunlap more ability to find and participate in such projects. Under theformula now used small places are discriminated against and their tax,bases have eroded to the point where they can no longevaise sul5stantialfunds via the general property taxes, the only tax available to them."

The power of hindsight informs us that po\ktive cOncern for thewelfare of small towns in the Midwest would have been well-placed a half-century ago. But of course at that tune, there was ho public mechanismfor programs of that kind. lronically,Iiese public services now seem to berelatively unavailable in the very placesvery small towns2-where theywould be most relevant.

I

Orr

54

54

Illrat more objective needs exist for rural post.siffices-was offered by a farm implementdealer located in a small farming community. Parcel post service can deliver machine parts(often a very critical need, especially at harvest time) to the 4th class post office where theycan be picked up imMediately. The reform plan would require the farmer to drive up to 100miles for the repair part. a costly-delay.

'Most of the will places in Kansas probably have undeveloped resource potential com-parable to this one; but few so obvious and so close to a construCtive !reality. ,

'The material on the Rock Creek Watershed and its potential for Dunlap was takenfrom a document "Rock Creek Watershed Joint District No. 44General Plan withEstimate of Cost and Areas Benefited," Division of Water Resdorces, State Board ofAgriculture. Topeka, Kansas, 1974. Also interviews with members of the Board of Directors,Rock Creek kiint Watershed District "No4 84 and sngineers with the Division of WaterResources.

a"1 he material in this part is drawn directly from a paper done by Scott Shelley and

Jackson Winlers entitled "A ptoposal done for Communittprganization and Developmentfor Dunlap, Kansas: A Small Rural V illage.-

'See questions 16. 17, and 18, Section V. Appendix.'See Rurality. Poverty. and Health. Agricultural Economic Report No. 172, Economic'

ReSearch Service, U.S.D.A., 1970, for a description of the comparative inadequacy of ruralhealth facilities and corresponding poorer quality of health of people living in rural areas.

'See Theodore Lowi, "The Public Philosophy: Intekest Group Liberalism," AmericanPc:filled Science Review. 5:61(1967). 4*.

'Report to Congress by thc Comptroller-General of the Uniied States: Some ProblemsImpeding Economic- Improvement of Small Farm Operations: What the Department ofAgriculture Could Do, August 15, 1975.

'Report of the National Academy of Science. Conclusions and recommendations. Chap-ter 2, page 9. Xerox copy by K SU Agricultural Experiment,Station.,

'°By siipport, we do not necessarily mean direct-subsidization. This statement is ad-dressed rather to the Resell-ch. Development, and Extension activities of the Department.

"Assuming that -some aspects of a cooperative system may be found congenial to theruralization process here suggested. then one can find a strong analogy between the proposalof this, report and the minifarm private sector in Soviet agriculture. Their miniscule privatesector is matched by the herein proposed cooperative small town land and resource develop-ment sector. The mutual support of minifarming and monoculture is brought out by an ex-pert on Soviet agriculture: "Because of their diminutive size:the,private farms cannot indeedexist on their own . . conversely, the kolkhoz is dependent upon thelabor of the kolkhozfamilies . . . A kolkhoz cannot exist without an independent labor force . . . ," Karl EugenWadekin, The Private Sector in Soviet Agriculture (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press. 1973), p. 17. A popular description of Russian free enterprise in agricultureand food marts by Jay Richter is in Farmlahd News, published by FarMland Industries, Inc.,June 28. 1974. p. 1. .

"In 1974, Dunlap's iniome from federal revenue-sharing amounted.,to $3 per capitawhile prosperous Manhattan,' Kansas. received' $13.65 per capita. Dunlap City Councilminutes. 1974. and Rosalys Rieger. Revenue-Sharing in Riley County, City of Manhattan,and Manhattan Township. 7-1.71 to 0-30.1 Unpublished research paper, Department ofPolitical Science. Manhattan, Kansas, 1976. .

55

Appendix')

Survey Questionnaire for Administration toTown and Township Officials and Selected

Adult Residents of Dunlap and Valley Township

S.

^

Section One: Preliminary Questions

Characteristics of respondent and oi Intervkw.

Name: Age: Sex:

Name orSpouse:

Address:

Age:

Imcaiiorl ofOccupation: Place of Work

No. of P.!rsons Now in Household:

No. of Children living:

Education: (Circle Level and Grade of Last Attendance)Level. Grade ,

a) Ekmentaryb) High SchoOl

c) College/University

Degree, if a ny:

Mesabi:nit* t organbations:Organizations of whichkou have been.a memberduring last five years

I 2 3 4 5 6 .7 S.I 2 3 4 .

I .2 3 4 4 +

Your atkndance, at meetings

0 6,

Never

Occasionally._

Frequently

56

Offices heldduring last fiveyears (specify)

4.

Rarddesey Infonisadeas

I . Do you reside in Dunlap? . If no, where do you.reside

2. Number of years you have resided in Dunlap.0.%

1 Has this period of residency been continuous?

4. Number rif years you have residedaUctwnship.V

5. Has this period of residency been continuous?

Name of Interviewer .

Date of Interview1114

Section 'two: Examination fo social interrelationships.

I, How many Dunlap rrsidents do you speak or Otherwise communicate with during yourtypical Seven-day week?

(al 1-10 (b) I I .20(c) 21-40(d) cI-70 (e) more than 70

2. At what place in Dunlap do you speak with the largest number of Dunlap residentsduring your typical seven-day week?

.1. How would you rate ale personal contacts you have with Dunlap iesidehts at the placeyou mentioned in answer to the previous question?

(a) very pleasing (b) pleasing (c) neutral(d) displeasing (e) very displeasing

4. What type of activity do you most often engage in at the location you mentioned in"isweet(' Question Two?

seS. For how many Dunlap residents would yotl feel qualified to furnish a character reference

if you were requested to do so?

(a)41000 more than half (c) about half(d) less than half (e) very few

Section Three: Examinatimi of larger community linkages.

h. What is the location of the place that you consider to be the center of your commercialactivity?

S7

5 7

!t

7. What is the location of the place(%) to which you presently send your ehildren.to school?(If applicabk )*-

A8. In regard to your answers to questions h and 7, which were something other thanDunlap, if facilities of similar quality were available in Dunlap, would you still preferto go to the places you mentioned?

NoYes

9. In regard to your answers to question ti and 7 which, were somithing other thtnbunlap, do you go to these places because the services they offer arr unavailable inDunlap?

Yps

h.

Nei

Section Four: Examination of vi ws about present and future.

M. Is the way of life of most people in Dunlap adequate or not adequate for modern times?

(a) very adequate 00 adequate (c) all right(d) not really adequate (e) useless

I I. As you 'think of the future, that is, the next five to fifteen years, which of the followingbest fits your own future? Will it be .

(a) great improvement (p) some improvernent (c) no change(d) gritlual decline (e) disaster

12%As you annk of the fut.ure. that is, the next five to fifteen years, which of the follokvingGat (its the future of Dunlap as a community? Will it he . . .

(algreat improvement (h) some improvement (e) no changeId) gradual decline (e) disaster

13. In the next five to fifteen years, what do you think the opportunitiesiorpeople in Dunlapwill be, regarding ownership of real estate within the borders of Dufiltp?

(a) Most *vie will oWn real estate (b)/Kore people will own real estate (c) it will be thesankas now (d) some people will lose the Al estate they now own (e) most poeple willlose the real estate they now own

58

585.

14. Do you expect it to beconie easier or more difficult for most people in Dunlap to make agood living during the next five to fifteen years?

(a) much easier (b) somewhat easier (c) about the same(d) somewhat more difficult (e) much more difficult

Section Five: Examination of support for community development

IS. Do you personally consider Dunlap to be a "dying". community?'

No Yes

IA. Would you have positive or negative feelings toward the idea of a program designed forthe purpose of revitalizing Dunlap as a community?

(a) very positive (b) moderately positive (c) neutral(d) somewhat urgative (e) very negative

17. Would you have positive or negative feelings toward a program designed to revitalizeIlk /Dunlap as a community. if it meant that the toWn's population would increase slightly

and gradually . : . say about I(X) to 200?

(a) very positive (b) moderately positive (c) neutral(d) somewhat negative (e) very negative

18. Would you be interested in attending an open meeting in Dunlap to discuss thepossibility of setting up a program for the purpose fo revitalizing Dunlap as a com-

. munity?

(a) very positive (b) moderadely positive (c) neutral(d) somewhat negative (e) very negative

19. Does i e "death" of Dunlap as a community appear unavoidable to you at the presenttime S ,

r--Yes,

Section Six: Examination of views about units of local government.

20. Do you presently think that the town government of Dunlap is an adequatemefit for servicing most of the governmental needs of Dunlap's residents?

(a) very adequate 00 adequate (c) all right(d) not really adequate (e) useless (

59 59

unit of govern-

11. If thr Dunlap to government possessed substantially iireater financial resources, do'you think it would then have the ability to increase dee quality of its service% to Dunlap's

N oYe%

22. Do you presently think the township government of the township within which Dunlap islocated is an adequate unit of government for servicing most of the governmental need%of the township's residenv.?

(a) vvy adequate (Iv) adequate (c) all right(d).not really adequate (e) useless

23. If the township government of the township within which Duhlap is located possessedsubstantially greater fMancial resources, do you think it would then have the ability to in-etease the quality of its services to the town)hip's residents?

... No J _ Yes.

24. What level of cdneern do you personally feel that the county golernment which is housediii the courthouse in Council Grove Kangas, shows for the well-being of Dunlap as acommunity?

(a) high level of concern (b) moderate level of concern(c) neutral (d) mexlerately unconcerned(e) eompktely unconcerned

4;0

60

Appendix 2

.*

Outline of sources of program support

Program Title Possible Supporting Agency*

I . Organic Farming and A. Extension Service, KansasGardening State University.

B. Farmers Home Administra-, doer, USDAC. Deportment of Horticulture.

Kansas State UniversityD. American Friends Service

CommitteeE. Catholic Rural Life k

Codire nF. Rural Development Act of

11972

2. Cooperative CommunityGeueral Store

A. Small jsiness Administra-.,

(ionB. Rural Development Act of

1972

C. Catholic kural LifeConference .616

3. Child Foster Care 6 A. Kansas Stale DepartmentProgram of Social and_Rehabili-

tation Services

4. Home Care Program for A. Kansas State Department'the Elderly of Social and Rehabili-

tatibn ServicesB. Social Security Adrninis-

trationC. Medicare and Medicaid

5. Foster Grandparent .

ProgramA. ACTION (within Department

Of HEW)B. Kansas State Department

of Social and Rehabili-tation Services

61

GJ-

41,

b. Community Center Project

7. Mobile Health CarrProgram

8. Low Cost Housing

A. University for Man.K ansas St ate U niversity

B. Y MCAC. National Council on kging

A. Public Law 89.749B. Medicare and Medicaid

A. Farmers Home AdjListration. USDA

B. Housing and Urban Develop.ment Act of 1968

C. Housing and Public Assis-tance Administration ofDepartment of HUD

D. Federal Housing Adminis-tration

E. H.U.U. Rural Housing GrantProgram

9, Community Beautification A. "Green Thumb" program ofProgram Department of Labor

B. Department of Horticulture,Kansas State University

C. Extension Service. Collegeof Agriculture, tqlosasState thiliersity

10. Adult and Continuing A. Division of Continuing, Education Program Education, Kansas State

University".B. Department of Continuing

Education, Emporia StateCollege

C. Council Grove High SchoolD. University for Man, Kansas

State University

62

62

I I. Vocational RehabilitationProgram

12. Community Flood Controlpnd Water Use ActionCommittee

A. Kansas State Departmentof Social and Rehabili-tation Services ,

B. Vocational RehabilitationAct of I965

C. Social Security Adminis-tration

D. Medicare ,

A. Rock Creek Watershed Districtn fition Service

C. Ater Resources Board,'topeka

'1

*Support from tratside agencies may .take many forms: grants and loans; program- guidance and counseling; general infoimatiom and technical or professional skills and ser-vice. -

,

.

Publkations and public rneetinp by the Kansas Agricultural Etperiment Stationare avatee and open to the publicregardless of race. color, national origin. sea. or religion.

-

63

A